Former coup frontmen hot favourites in Fiji election
- Sitiveni Rabuka’s supporters say they’re confident about a win, but analysts expect incumbent Frank Bainimarama to stay in power
Two former coup leaders are seen as the leading contenders in Fiji’s general election on Wednesday, the second to be held since 2006 when commander of the armed forces at the time Frank Bainimarama seized power.
The former British colony of more than 300 Pacific islands, with a population of about 910,000, was suspended from the British Commonwealth and isolated diplomatically after the bloodless takeover.
Bainimarama stood down from the military to run as a civilian in the country’s 2014 elections, winning in a landslide, and the country has been welcomed back into the international community, enjoying a visit in October from Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.
Former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who led two coups in 1987, is the main opposition candidate.
Rabuka leads the Social Democratic Liberal Party of Fiji, known as Sodelpa, which is running on a platform of government transparency. But he will not know until Monday afternoon whether he is eligible to be elected after being accused of deliberately breaching financial disclosure laws.